Red Oak GEAR UP tours the University of Oklahoma

12/13/2016

WILBURTON, OK (Dec. 13, 2016) – Red Oak GEAR UP students recently traveled to Norman to tour the University of Oklahoma. Graduate Research Assistant for the Prospective Student Service Office, Hunter Guarnera, met the students in Jacobson Hall and spoke with them in the OU Visitor Center before the tour began. Red Oak students watched a short video about OU. Guarnera informed them of various campus organizations and academic programs. He also discussed various scholarships, financial aid and the importance of ACT scores. He stressed the importance of volunteer work and campus involvement.

As the students were led throughout the campus, Guarnera provided the history of the buildings. Students toured the Bizzell Memorial Library where they received a first–hand look at the Great Reading Room—the most popular quiet study space that serves as the home of theses and dissertations by OU graduates—and learned about the different benefits the library has to offer.

The Norman campus contains the biggest research library in the state of Oklahoma. It contains more than 6 million volumes, 1.3 million eBooks, 3.6 million microform materials and 116,000 serials subscriptions. The library has been a depository for federal government documents since 1893 and ranks 32nd out of 114 academic research libraries in North America for volumes held.

The tour guide led the students to the Wallace Old Science Hall and Chemistry Building. Wallace Old Science Hall is home to several offices at OU, including International Student Services and Education Abroad; Film and Video Studies; and the School of Drama, which also has two theatres in the facility. It also houses the headquarters of the International Society for Cinema and Media Studies, the largest film studies organization in the world. The Chemistry Building houses one of the strongest departments at OU, which includes internationally–known professors and continues to engage in pioneering chemical and biochemical research.

The tour was then led to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, one of the finest university art museums in the United States. Next was the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications where students study journalism, broadcasting, electronic media, public relations, advertising, and professional writing. Red Oak students were able to see some of the products that OU students prepared and were on display.

The Oklahoma Memorial Union was the next stop. There were places to eat and lounge inside. The final stop on the tour was the Campus Corner where students are able to shop, eat, and hang out when they are not in class.

“College tours are an important part of Eastern’s GEAR UP program,” said GEAR UP Education Coordinator Tara Stevens. “They give the students a first–hand look at life on a college campus.”

The field trip was sponsored by Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP. Participating schools take two field trips each academic year—one to tour a college or university and one that is cultural/educational in nature.